Plate 21 from "The Disasters of War" (Los Desastres de la Guerra): 'It will be the same' (Será lo mismo) (ca. 1810)
Original title: Plate 21 from "The Disasters of War" (Los Desastres de la Guerra): 'It will be the same' (Será lo mismo)
kurzbeschreibung
"Es wird dasselbe sein" (Será lo mismo) is the 21st plate from Francisco de Goya's etching series "The Disasters of War" (Los Desastres de la Guerra), made around 1810. A figure lying on the ground, surrounded by a group of people in a dramatic scene, forms the focus of the etching. The work belongs to a series of 82 plates that confront the horrors of the Spanish War of Independence.
Description
A person lying on the ground, apparently wounded or dead, anchors the image. Several figures in traditional clothing stand or kneel around them; they weep, cry out, or bend forward. The tightly packed bodies in their varied postures create an impression of chaos and despair. Black and white dominate the sheet, with gloomy light and shades ranging from very bright to very dark heightening the drama. The sharp lines and detailed hatching are characteristic of the etching technique.
Context
Between 1810 and 1820, Goya created the series "The Disasters of War" in response to the Spanish War of Independence against Napoleonic occupation. Only in 1863, 35 years after Goya's death, were the plates published by the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. The cycle is one of the first major artistic indictments of the horrors of war in European art history.
Impact
The dense group of figures and the gloomy light produce an immediate emotional intensity that pulls the viewer into the scene. An oppressive mood of helplessness and horror sets in, reinforced by the renunciation of any idealization.
Technique
The sheet is an etching on paper, printed before the addition of a wash (lavis). The etching technique allowed Goya fine, precise lines and subtle shading that support the emotional impact of the scene. The plate measures 14.5 × 21.5 cm and is printed on a sheet of 22 × 31.8 cm.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)